Creationism concepts and debates

Creationism: Is there any Credible Evidence to Support it?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) This quotation from the Bible plus numerous others from the religious books of various religions lead us to believe that man, the earth, and the rest of the universe were originally created by a divine force rather than having been created as a result of a "Big Bang" and subsequent "evolution" over billions of years. The religious theory about the origins of the universe, earth and man called "creationism" comes into direct conflict with the present day scientific theory about our and our universe's origins. Does any solid or credible evidence exist to support creationism? I shall explore this question in this essay.

There are several categories of people who advocate "creation science" but can be broadly grouped into the "young earth creationists" and the "old earth creationists." The former contend that the earth is no more than 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. The more rigid (or "fundamentalist") creationists go further. They believe that the heaven and the earth were created on 4004 BC. The more flexible, "old creationists" concede that the universe could have come into existence a lot earlier but argue for an "initial or first cause" arguing that "Someone" (a divine power) initiated the cataclysmic events for creating the universe and then evolution was used as the process by this divine power to guide the subsequent events. The other major belief of the "young earth creationists" is about a worldwide flood that occurred during the time of Noah, when waters rose for 150 days and went down for the next 150 days and that all existing species of life are the ones that were taken aboard the Noah's Ark. (Genesis: chapter 7)

These were the "beliefs" of the creationists. Do we have compelling evidence to support the beliefs? Apart from the explanations given in the Bible (and other theological writings), there are various stories and mythologies handed down from generation to generation. As far as irrefutable scientific evidence is concerned, not only is there a complete absence of such proof, the creationist beliefs are in direct conflict with the current scientific theories about how the universe started (the "Big Bang" hypothesis), how life was first formed (through the "building blocks" of life and how it evolved (the theory of evolution). For example, in the late 1920s, an American astronomer, Edwin Hubble, observed that distant stars and galaxies are receding from Earth in every direction. This observation, supported by further scientific evidence, gave rise to the hypothesis that the universe was expanding and at one time all the matter and energy in the universe was condensed in a very small and infinitely hot mass. A huge explosion, termed the "Big Bang," then sent matter and energy expanding in all directions, and the universe was born. ("Science and Creationism" Section on "The Origin..") The formation of the stars (including our sun), the galaxies, and the planets are all explained by the Big Bang theory. The age of the universe has been estimated by the scientists by the relationship between the velocities of and the distances separating the galaxies. Present scientific estimates of the age of the universe range between 10 and 15 billion years. Moreover, radioactive elements that occur naturally in rocks and minerals also provide a means of estimating the age of the solar system and Earth. These estimates indicate that the Earth and our Solar System was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. These figures conflict greatly with the contention of the creationists who believe that the universe was created just 6,000 to 10,000 years ago.

The other key creationist beliefs about the creation of life and Noah's flood are also in conflict with scientific knowledge. The scientists estimate that the first life form started on the earth at least 3.5 billion years ago and gradually developed into more complex forms through the process of "evolution." According to the theory of evolution the modern man evolved from its sub-human ancestor (named Australopithecine) about 150,000 years ago. (Ibid. "Evidence about Biological..") The creationists, of course, believe that the first man and woman were Adam and Eve who were expelled from the paradise by God 6,000 years ago. The scientific evidence against the occurrence of Noah's flood just a few thousand years ago when, according to the creationists, the entire earth's surface was covered with water for an entire year, is even more compelling. Geological records, inter-tidal and terrestrial deposits indicate that at no recorded time in the past has the entire planet been under water. Scientists have also calculated that the volume of water required for a universal flood of the magnitude such as the Noah's flood, has never existed on and in the Earth, since the formation of its solid crust formed about 4 billion years ago. Most of the creationists' arguments in support of their beliefs are either based on religious "evidence" or on the observation that the Big Bang and evolutionary theories are mere theories that have not been seen by anyone or proved by observation. The scientists counter this argument by stating that all scientific knowledge is not based on direct observation and experimentation. For instance, physicists cannot directly observe subatomic particles, but they still make accurate inferences about the weight, speed, and other properties of the particles. Furthermore, all scientific theories are subject to the possibility of rejection or modification in the light of new knowledge, but according to the current state of scientific knowledge, which is backed up by compelling evidence based on observation, experimentation and inference, the Big Bang and Evolutionary theories are established "facts" rather than mere conjectures.